Software release, 07/09/2018

[JuKu]

Build date 9/7/2018

Download link: https://www.liteplacer.com/Downloads/Li ... 9_2018.exe

New Features, Significant Changes

* Manually assisted placement: Machine takes the part almost
to position, user can jog it on place (Thank you for contribution!)
* Pump and vacuum relay output can now be inverted
* Added button to set A=0
* Greatly reduced video lag
* Duplicate designators are now replaced (R1, R1; ... => R1_1, R1_2, ...)
* Message boxes are now shown centered on the LitePlacer window
(instead of Windows standard center of the screen)

Bug Fixes

* More stable operation when manually stopping placement job
* Homing button is now red during homing
* Increased homing timeout for long latch travels
* Optical homing now takes several measurements and uses the median
* Jig setup used too fine grid for HD cameras
* Bad tape data doesn't crash anymore on show part
* Pump and vacuum checkboxes now show correct status at startup

Notes

As always, feedback and bug reports are appreciated. If possible, take a copy of the log window content for a bug report (click inside the log window, ctrl+A to select all, copy and paste to a text document).

[robert@serve101.org]

Manually assisted placement: Machine takes the part almost
to position, user can jog it on place (Thank you for contribution!)

Likely a silly question:

Place Assist is a very cool feature! I am not sure how to use it. Once I help get the part get placed by jogging it just a bit, and lowering the nozzle, what do I do next to tell the machine to turn off the vacuum, raise the nozzle, and move on to the next part. I tried hitting the 'return' key, which is really the wrong thing to do as I found out!

Thanks,
Robert

[pete0]

Hi,

what went wrong after hitting the return key?

The feature is mainly for placing loose parts (e.g. 0.5mm fine pitch). After the machine moved the part above the placment position you jog it exactly over the placement position (part still above the board), press enter, that's it. Part is placed and P&P head moves to park position. Should also work the same for Place Assisted, only restriction is that there is no hight probing.

Regards,
Peter

[LesGrant]

Thanks for the program update.
I am getting a "Sloppy programmer error", "Nozzle Calibration value read: value not found".
I was getting this on the previous release (28_05_2018) and I noticed the new version so I updated to see if the message went away. It didn't...
I have set up 2 custom part jig positions with “Use coordinates directly” and I am getting this error consistently on only the second part (same nozzle for both). I have re-run the nozzle calibrations. I am using the 'Place" button on the Run Job screen, Component Operations. The method for both parts was 'Place'. Same problem with 'Place Fast'. The last thing I was doing was adjusting the Rotation for that part in Tape Positions. It was -1.0. Changed to 0 and the error went away. It had previously worked with -1.7. The first part (that works) has a rotation of -0.2. Note that this is the opposite sign of the rotation that I found using the grid.

Since I can't set the rotation correctly, I tried a manual assist (rotation = 0) with this same part. I was able to jog but when I pressed Enter, the nozzle headed back to the jig position with Z still at the low assist height (it didn't place my part, it hit my jig). Maybe this is the same behaviour observed by Robert above...

Finally, the pump and vacuum were still running after all this so I homed the machine. The pump and vacuum were still running. Maybe the pump and vacuum should be switched off at the start of a home.

Thanks.
Regards,
Les Grant.

[robert@serve101.org]

I am getting a "Sloppy programmer error", "Nozzle Calibration value read: value not found".

I saw this as well when the rotation of the part on the tape table was set to -1.0 Other values that I tried did not have this problem.

I was able to jog but when I pressed Enter, the nozzle headed back to the jig position with Z still at the low assist height (it didn't place my part, it hit my jig). Maybe this is the same behavior observed by Robert above...Finally, the pump and vacuum were still running

Yes, this is what I saw as well after hitting 'return.' The Z was still at the level last set, the vacuum was still on holding the part to the nozzle and the X & Y started moving with the nozzle/part running into stuff. I hit my RESET button as quickly as I could.

[LesGrant]

Hi Robert,

I have tried a few values near -1.0 without the error but 359 fails. It looks like there is a function returning -1 as the standard error value but we want it to be an angle. I hope this helps Juha get to the cause of the problem.

I wasn't quite quick enough with my RESET button. Fortunately, no obvious damage though...

Thanks for your comments.
Regards,
Les.

[JuKu]

Thank you for the bug reports! I can’t fix what I don’t know is broken. I’ll look into this.

[LesGrant]

Hi Juha,

Thanks. I try to give as much detail as I can...
Another thing - I just reset the TinyG but Liteplacer thinks the vacuum pump and solenoid are still on when they weren't even though I had restarted the place process. If you see TinyG reset, clear the vacuum flags.

Good luck.
Regards,
Les Grant.

[pete0]

Hi,

robert@serve101.org, LesGrant strange question, but how did you started the placement?

Marking the part in CAD Data table and clicking button Place, or marking part in Job Data table and clicking Place Selected button?

Thanks
Peter

[LesGrant]

Hi Robert,

I don't remember but the part was in the Job Data Table so I probably set the part method to Place Assisted and clicked Place Selected.

Regards,
Les.